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Jun 12, 2018, 08:30am

Finding The Best Of The Best: Four Recruitment Secrets For Candidate Success

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any successful organization, but finding the right people is rarely simple. After establishing an employee recruiting division which I then led for six years, I’ve learned a few things about what to do — and what not to do — during the recruitment process.

After countless one-on-ones, home office visits, successes and, yes, some failures, I’ve boiled it all down to five key takeaways that I hope may save you from learning the hard way.

1. Take a candidate-first approach.

Studies have shown that employees who feel empowered are more engaged in their work and more likely to stay with a company. This starts with removing the phrase “we can’t” from your firm’s vocabulary where possible. Enable cross-organizational communication throughout your firm so you can capitalize on opportunities.

In addition, consider whether the processes you have in place actually improve the quality of your business, or whether they simply exist because that’s how things have always been done. How can you remove bureaucracy to make things more efficient?

2. Don’t be blinded by production volume.

Years ago, I had who I thought was the perfect recruit — an advisor with over $5 million in production and $2 billion in assets under management. But big producers often assume that, based on their performance, they play by a different set of rules than everyone else. After all, what firm wouldn’t want them? This particular recruit decided to start a side business without getting proper approval and was terminated in less than a year. It was a lifelong lesson that you need to treat everyone equally and make sure they play by the rules every day — regardless of their production.

Don’t get swept up by what’s on a candidate’s resume. Does their previous work experience matter? Absolutely. Can specific credentials provide tangible value to your company? Of course. But don’t be blinded by brand names or candidate pedigree. You might miss out on a great hire who doesn’t have them — or worse, make a bad hire based on the wrong criteria. Instead, develop a consistent standard against which you measure all candidates.

3. Remember that a bad hire is worse than no hire.

Sometimes — and this happens to almost everyone once — you’ll meet an advisor who fits your firm’s recruiting profile but isn’t a perfect cultural fit. As a manager, you’ll probably give them the benefit of the doubt. After all, they may have great experience and be perfectly friendly during the interview process.

But it’s important to be honest with yourself. Maybe you’re making excuses for them because you didn’t have a great recruiting year and want to get someone across the finish line. Believe me when I say that never works. I’ve done this, and it became immediately obvious that the new hire wasn’t the right fit.

In the case of the recruit mentioned above, I should have paused the recruiting process to conduct additional due diligence. But I didn’t. He was terminated within six months. A bad hire is ten times worse for your office culture than saying no to a recruit and finding a better one.

If you suspect a candidate may not be the perfect fit, seek input from successful team members with whom they would be working. Do your colleagues express similar hesitations? You might also consider facilitating a “working interview,” during which the candidate completes relevant tasks or shadows a team member in the office. By assessing a candidate within the context of the role in question, you’ll be better equipped to predict their success.

4. Set expectations

We encourage high-potential candidates to visit headquarters during the recruiting process. That way, we get to meet the candidate face to face and the candidate has the opportunity to learn about our culture firsthand. We also use that visit to ensure we’re the right fit for both the advisor and his or her clients. Each time I meet new recruits, I start by saying the same thing: “If you only take one thing away from today, let it be this: Follow the recruiting rules."

After that, things can go one of two ways. In many cases, the candidate takes my advice to heart and follows directions for protocol or non-protocol moves. When this happens, we see awesome success stories. In other cases, some advisors think the rules don't apply to them — that's when transitions implode and become unsuccessful.

Follow the individual transition plan created for each recruit — life is too short to take shortcuts.

When it comes down to it, people want to work where they feel supported and appreciated. By adopting a candidate-first culture, you’ll quickly draw top talent to your organization.